After a third straight 12-5 season, the Dallas Cowboys are ready for another NFL playoff run. The quest for Super Bowl LVII begins on Super Wild Card Weekend in the form of a showdown with the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.
A strong regular season showing is great, but it doesn't mean anything if the Cowboys don't go on a deep playoff run. It's been 28 years since America's Team last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy and the fanbase is hungry for a title run, meaning every player must step up to help end the drought — especially with those who struggled to contribute consistently.
With that in mind, here are three Cowboys who find themselves on thin ice in the playoffs.
3 Cowboys on Thin Ice in Playoffs
1. Tony Pollard, RB
When the Cowboys released last March, Tony Pollard was given the keys to the backfield. Cowboys fans were excited to see what the former Memphis Tiger could do as the lead running back after racking up 1,378 scrimmage yards and 12 touchdowns in 16 games with only four starts in 2022.
Unfortunately, Pollard wasn't as effective as he was last season. While his 1,316 scrimmage yards and six TDs are far from the worst output of his career, both numbers were down from last year's totals despite his seeing 75 more touches in 2023. As a result, both his yards per carry (4.0) and reception (5.7) were down drastically from his 2022 averages (5.2 and 9.5, respectively).
Pollard's knack for being a streaky player also frustrated Dallas fans this season. After scoring two TDs in an opening-week win over the New York Giants, the 26-year-old went eight straight games without finding the end zone. He did score in three consecutive outings after that, only to go on another four-game TD drought that ended with a Week 18 score.
Now that Pollard is set to hit free agency in the offseason, he needs to step up with a strong playoff run. The Cowboys can't afford another disappearing act.
If he can't find a way to contribute, it could be argued that Pollard just isn't suited to be an RB1 and could be shown the door out of the Lone Star State.
2. Michael Gallup, WR
Michael Gallup's career development has been frustrating, to say the least.
A third-round pick in 2018, Gallup displayed a lot of potential during his sophomore campaign as he amassed 1,107 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 66 receptions. He was seen as someone who could be a consistent WR2 for years to come with some WR1 upside with the right matchup.
Unfortunately, Gallup hasn't come close to reaching those heights since then. He racked up 842 yards in 2020 but has struggled to even come close to matching half of that production since then, finishing with 445 or fewer receiving yards in each of the last three seasons.
The bad news is that Gallup only got worse as the 2023 campaign went on. After turning 28 catches into 357 yards and a touchdown in the first nine games of the season, the 27-year-old pass-catcher only yielded a 6-61-1 stat line in the final six games to close out the campaign.
For reference, that abysmal performance put him on pace for a 17-173-3 stat line in 17-games.
Even though there are still three years remaining on his five-year, $57.5 million contract, it isn't guaranteed that Gallup will be back next season. Spotrac indicates that the Cowboys can save $8.7 million in cap space if they waive the former Colorado State product after June 1.
In other words, if Gallup continues his Invisible Man act into the playoffs, there's a decent chance he'll be playing elsewhere later in 2024.
3. Mike McCarthy, HC
Mike McCarthy is a fantastic regular-season head coach. His 62.0% career winning percentage in the regular season is seventh-best among active coaches while his 167 victories are the 18th-most in NFL history, putting him just 23 wins outside of the top 10. He's also coached Dallas to three straight 12-win campaigns and two NFC East titles, which is no easy task.
Having said that, the 60-year-old's postseason record is somewhat spotty. After going 5-2 in the playoffs and winning a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers from 2007 to 2010, McCarthy's teams have only gone 6-8 without any conference titles in his 11 subsequent seasons as a head coach.
Fast forward to just before the playoffs are set to begin and it looks like McCarthy's future in Dallas hinges on the team's playoff success. On Jan. 6, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that sources around the NFL and "even some within the Cowboys organization" indicate that McCarthy could be given the boot depending on how the playoffs go.
"But if [the Cowboys] struggle and end the season with an embarrassing loss, as has happened in each of the past two years, then some say that change could come to Dallas.Adam Schefter on Mike McCarthy
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Even though there's still plenty of reasons to believe in McCarthy's vision, Schefter adds that the Cowboys want to do whatever they can to keep defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Considering that there are questions about what Dallas "would be willing to do" to keep Quinn, potentially one option is to give him McCarthy's job.
As much praise as McCarthy deserves for turning the Cowboys into a juggernaut on both sides of the ball, that status only means so much if Dallas can't win the Super Bowl. If the team can't get the job done and make it to Las Vegas in February, a change could be necessary to get to the next level.
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